Feels Like Home
by AlternativeRocker
Summary: A rainstorm brings Ric and Serena indoors as they enjoy an evening together.


**Note:** This is for Louise as a treat, enjoy the big world my first class partner in crime! Inspired by the revelation in 'Mummy Dearest' that Serena now has a conservatory.

* * *

><p>"Explain to me again why we are outside." Ric asked the woman sitting next to him on the concrete paving she had in the middle of her home's back garden. They could see what they were doing with the light from the house that was illuminating the conservatory and up the middle of the garden.<p>

"It is a lovely evening, we have wine, and it is quiet." Serena answered, shifting so that their arms were touching.

There was nobody inside the house any more but she could still feel her mother's eyes on her, especially when she was doing salacious deeds such as spending the evening with a man she was not married to. Adrienne had been moved to a specialist care home a few months before which Serena had only managed to do with support from Ric who was close to her other in his own right. It had distressed all involved but in hindsight it was the only solution, and Serena now was able to focus on the people and things that gave her pleasure. The few times that Adrienne had seen her daughter bring Ric to the house had all started badly as her old-fashioned beliefs about improper relations were exclaimed, it didn't help that she had forgotten Ric again and the discrimination was turned on him. Back then Serena had profusely apologised to him while trying not to break down in tears which hurt him more than a dementia sufferer's insults ever could.

As he poured a glass of Shiraz for them both he was confident a drop or two of water splashed on his arm. There were no trees surrounding the garden so he glanced up to the dark sky where clouds had began to appear.

Serena looked at him, a puzzled expression on her features, silently asking him what was the matter.

"Was that spots of rain?"

She shook her head and did not want to believe his suspicion, "You're probably just expressing the thing we want to happen least."

The words had barely been uttered before the heavens opened. If anything they would have expected a small shower but they were soaked within seconds from what actually fell.

"Oh for god's sake," she muttered angrily as she picked up the glasses that now contained more water than wine. Ric followed close behind with the bottle in hand, his thumb over the top to protect what remained.

Upon entering the warmth of the conservatory he pulled his damp shirt off as Serena began to do the same but couldn't take her eyes from him. Seeing his smug grin she narrowed her eyes and tried to return to her task. After eight months of being up close and personal with him, she was annoyed that he still had this effect on her without even touching.

"Let me." He said, the gap between them vanishing as he walked across to her.

Serena avoided eye contact and watched as his fingers slowly removed her shirt, brushing against her skin and sending her pulse racing.

When he took his hands away, he commented on something she was not expecting in their current predicament, "I like this room."

She tried to force her voice to disguise the concentration she had been putting on his actions. "I needed a place of my own after I began to consider letting mum move in. It is where I would go when it all got too much; I could pretend I was somewhere exotic."

"It is different than what all your other rooms are - there is more homely comfort items like cushions everywhere."

"Are you saying I am less comforting in the others?" She teased, scrunching up her hair in her hand in a feeble attempt to dry it.

"Not at all, I am talking about the general atmosphere of them. You know I love your house."

The reclining chair was still present - they had curled up on that together several times - but instead she took off a stack of pillows from the surrounding seats and threw them on the floor.

Noticing that she was busy, he decided to leave her to it, "Do you want me to get some snacks?"

She shrugged in response, they had only had dinner a little while prior but she wouldn't refuse more. Taking a second off, she watched the topless figure leave, wondering why he was still such an obliging partner to her and how she had got lucky enough to be with someone she was this attracted to. He spent most of his free time in this building so quickly found crisps, dips and a variety of other foods which he knew she would also appreciate.

Ric raised an eyebrow when he returned to the other room, his partner was leaning against the cold glass of the closed door in only her matching dark grey satin underwear. She was never shy in front of him; their sex life had previously ventured to living rooms, bathrooms, hallway/against the staircase bannister and one regrettable time in the AAU office, but she could still surprise him.

He placed the bowls and plates on the wooden table behind her and then fell into the trap of kissing her. Whenever they started - even if they were only quickly kissing the other's cheek - it would end in them becoming distracted from anything else. Their tongues danced together and Ric did not even notice that she had unbuckled his belt until she began to push the material down. Her mouth moved to his chest, down his sternum and circled his nipple, teeth teasing it while he stepped out of the trousers.

She put her hand in his before crouching down, pulling him along with her until he worked out that her plan was for them to sit or lie on the cushions. He successfully got her out of the jeans she had been dressed in before she broke the kiss and asked, "Now, where is the food I was promised?"

The smirk on her face made him want to feel her lips on his again and he was confident she expected it. Instead he dragged the table over to the side of where they now sat facing each other.

"If someone had told me three and a half years ago that I would be sitting opposite a nearly-naked Ric Griffin, while I am in just a bra and knicker set I would have cried laughing. Now I can't imagine anything I would rather spend my time doing." She admitted while taking a bite of the cold pepperoni pizza from earlier in the night. He knew that would be her choice rather than the bitesize options, which had been his reason for taking it out of the fridge. He would have put their leftovers in the bin because the thought of eating chilled pizza was his food hell whereas he had grown used to her eating like a university student.

"Not even your application for CEO?" He was incredibly pleased with how she was going for the aspirations she had dreamed of before Adrienne was diagnosed with vascular dementia.

"Well, part of me could happily be with that all night but on the whole you are a better deal."

"Woah, when did I reach such dizzying heights in your interests," Ric joked, earning him a gentle shove.

"Probably around the time you agreed to put up with me and we fell in love," she was disgusted in how romantic she sounded when talking about their relationship but it kept coming out of her mouth, even when they were with mutual friends. Had she been younger she could say it was inexperience yet in truth her heart had been broken severly in the past and they had celebrated her 50th birthday earlier in the year - well, he had been giddy with mocking remarks whilst she drank as many of the alcoholic gifts as possible.

Waiting until they had finished the foods in their hands, Ric then crawled the short distance to her and lowered her down on to the multitude of cushions and pressed their lips together.

They stayed in their underwear as they simply kissed for what felt like hours but in real life was ten minutes. Eventually he decided she had played around with his desires for long enough since arriving at her home. His hand moved from beside her ribcage, down between them to her upper thigh. He made circular patterns on her skin which caused her to shiver as her body became sensitive to his touch. His other hand went to her covered breast, putting all his weight on that one shoulder and his knees as he groped her gently.

Sliding his hand under the elastic waistband he stroked her clitoris, knowing exactly how she liked to be stimulated. When she was ready - almost on the edge of pure exultation - he entered her with a finger, curling it toward him to find the spot that garnered an intense response. However as he explored her inner walls he could feel she was closer than he expected, so removed the digit. Their mouths were still connected and his sudden exit irritated her to the point that she bit down on his lip, not so harsh to draw blood but he got the message. Serena made an attempt to move her hand to get herself to climax but he caught it in the process and held it above her head.

"I'm not finished with you yet."

She tried to sneakily move her other hand but that joined its partner just as hastily. Making desperate pleas didn't work often so all she did was moan and sigh as the tension dissipated. He let go within seconds and began to lavish her torso with his lips, taking excessive time to pleasure her breasts and surrounding tissue.

He understood that he was forgiven for halting the work of his fingers when he felt a hand encircling his genitals, rubbing it through the thin cotton boxer shorts until it was painfully hard. His mouth left her body as his head fell forward, deep moans and curses escaping his usually calm exterior. She used her fingernails along the underside of his entire length coaxing him further. Running her thumb in small circles over the head of his arousal he felt the loss of contact immediately as she gazed at him triumphantly.

"Oh, sorry, were you enjoying that?" He could do nothing other than laugh, remembering all too well and late that they were just as bad as each other.

The rain was thundering against the glass roof above but all they could hear was their lover's noises of enjoyment. They also had not taken into account that if her neighhours went to their upstairs back-facing windows and looked down they would see two out-of-condition middle-aged people removing the undergarments of their partner on a bed of unmatched cushions.

Staring down at the woman he was completely besotted with, Ric kissed her cheek and trailed down to her neck before he positioned his erect penis between her legs and slowly rolled his hips to enter. He loved watching her face in these moments as she was truly content and wanted nothing else than to feel him move inside her.

While they synchronised their technique she wrapped her legs across the base of his spine. In this situation he had control over her - he could make her come swiftly and effectively or trick and tease her until she was begging and near to tears with pleasure and exhaustion. She could sometimes work out what he was planning by the first couple of minutes of their bodies being at one. Based upon that and the fact she had already inferred to him she was not in the mood to play games, it would not be any marathon session. At some point he had unhooked her bra finally and she guessed it had joined one of the several piles of divested clothing they had made.

He felt her legs tighten around his abdomen as he continued to thrust into her, seemingly reaching deeper each time. The groans leaving her mouth only spurred him on more, his movements gaining in speed and hands bruising her hips. It was not long until her head fell to the side and the moans became louder and more gutteral, as it always did when she orgasmed and lost herself in the moment. While she was still at her peak he let his own release occur, his energy spent and he rested on top of her, his mouth tasting the salty sweat as it made contact with her forehead.

A few breathless mouth to mouth kisses later he pulled out and lay next to her. The mix of their ejaculation and other fluids were pooling on several of the nearby materials and she could sense she had the beginnings of friction burns on her back but none of that mattered. Grasping around the floor Serena found the blue picnic blanket she had made into a throw for the chair. She placed it over their lower halves, not snuggling with it as she was still flushed from their activities, 'accidentally' allowing her hand to travel down to his groin once again for a brief period of time just so that he reached the state of dreamy adoration.

Relaxing once again she turned to him at eye level, "You should live here."

His arm went around her waist as he rested his head on the other, "In a conservatory? I think I prefer my house."

"No, I mean move in with me, permanently. It would make sense as we end up here the majority of nights as it is. Be practical, Ric," she muttered, tapping her fingertip against his forehead.

"Practical? We are lying on your conservatory floor in the middle of a thunderstorm, covered by a throw which you normally use to protect your furniture. And you want me to be practical?" Ric joked as his brain decided what to do.

"So?" Her history with men caused her to be that bit more disbelieving that Ric could love her as much as he said he did. This would be his perfect opportunity to stop before they made commitments together, such as sharing a house.

It had not taken him more than a second of consideration to know what he wished for, "Of course I will move in, if you are sure."

Serena nestled herself against his side and stretched to allow her to kiss him on the lips, "I'm sure. We enjoy this house much more than your place that only has about three rooms to explore. Ric, my home is with you but you need somewhere real to stay full-time."


End file.
